Love over Space and Time
by tamaraholiday
Summary: The battle of canary warf is over. The Doctor (David Tennant) has saved the day again but at a price: His true love Rose is stuck in a paralell universe. Unable to accept that, he begins a dangerous journey to the farthest corners of the universe seeking a way to communicate with her once more and get her back.
1. Chapter 1

**I do NOT own the rights to Doctor Who. I own this story. I love the characters and I used my imagination.**

Summary: The battle of canary warf is over. The Doctor (David Tennant) has saved the day again but at a price: His true love Rose is stuck in a paralell universe. Unable to accept that, he begins a dangerous journey to the farthest corners of the universe seeking a way to communicate with her once more and get her back.

**CHAPTER 1 **

"Rose? Rose! NOOOOOOOOOO" He woke up startled. Looking around in confusion he rubbed his eyes and got up. It was very rare of him to sleep that long and often, but ever since what happened at Canary Warf he'd found himself empty and tired. Whenever he fell asleep his dreams were haunted by the image of Rose being sucked into the portal and her father saving her in the last second. He knew she was alive and fairly well, but their last encounter had left them in sadness and tears. It had been more years than he cared to know to hear someone profess their love to him in a way he could not escape. He always got close to his companions and would give his life to save them, but there was something different about Rose. Her disappearance had left him with a broken heart. What was worse, she didn't even hear what he had to say! Before he could respond, the connection had broken off and the other universe had sealed itself forever. So now he was stuck on this side of reality with the burden of having loved and lost. This hadn't happened to him in about 800 years.

"No use lying around though", he said to himself out loud. "Got to get going." He got up and walked over to the control. "I've still got the TARDIS. It's a time machine and a space ship! If there's anything in this universe that I can't do, I'd like to know about it!" He moved the handle and spun the wheel around. His course was set. He was going to the Shadow Proclamation to seek out a counselor. Hopefully he could help him with his mission. His objective was clear: Find a way to get to the paralell universe and get Rose back. Of course she was alive and healthy now, but she wasn't happy. Also being somewhat selfish, he wasn't happy either and only she could fix that. The TARDIS made its usual noises as it flew across the universe. Finally, it landed smoothly. The Doctor walked out of the door only to see a long bridge in front of him. This was not how he remembered the location of the Shadow Proclamation. Something had gone wrong. He walked along the bridge looking left and right, checking for enemies. There was nobody there at all. Reaching the other side he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at what looked like a video screen. At first there was only a loud beeping noise. Then there he saw a woman's face appear on the screen. She had red hair and bright blue eyes. In a soft voice she said: "Good afternoon, evening or morning. I am Coleen, your information booth. How may I be of assistance?" The Doctor smiled. "Oh, this is a direction booth! Aah, I haven't seen any of those for years! Sorry there. Can you tell me where I am exactly?"

"Of course, Sir. You are on Talmin, the information planet."

"I see. The thing is, I was trying to reach the Shadow Proclamation. I thought I entered the right coordinates for their location, but something must have gone wrong. Can you tell me anything about that?"

"Of course, Sir. The Shadow Proclamation resides about 500 000 miles away from here. If you have landed on this planet instead of their's, it is because they do not want to be found. Most probably, they do not approve of what you want to do, Doctor."

He froze. He was used to people knowing about him, but now a machine was talking to him like it knew him.

"And what is it exactly that I want to do?"

"You seek someone. Someone who has found a spot in your heart like no one including yourself had ever thought possible. She is now in another universe and unreachable for you."

"Yes! Exactly! And I've got to find a way to get her back. Can you help me with that?"

"Of course not, Sir. It isn't possible and it shouldn't be to meddle with parallel universes, Sir. It might rip a whole into reality."

"And that is why I can't find the Shadow Proclamation, yeah? What if there was an emergency?"

"They would understand an emergency. If you cannot reach them, they do not want to be found."

"Yes, yes alright!" He turned away from the screen. Anger rose from his heart. "How can this be? I need to talk to the Shadow Proclamation. They owe me! Do you know how much I've done for them? Do you know how much I've risked to save the universe? They should be paying me! They owe it to me to talk to me! Tell me, how do I reach them?"

"You cannot."

"But I have to!"

"You cannot."

"What if I'd go back in time, save Rose and do for once not give a damn about what will happen to time and space?"

The picture of the woman in the screen stopped for a second.

"They have agreed to see you. You may proceed."

"Thank you ever so much!" the Doctor yelled in irony.

He turned around on the spot and walked back over the bridge back to the TARDIS. Getting inside he stopped on the threshold for a second gathering himself together. At the control panel he saw that now the TARDIS was desplaying the actual coordinates of where they were. Once again he put in the desination and took off. His hearts were pounding so fast.

Even though he had done this a million times, he still got nervous whenever he landed somewhere and got out of the TARDIS. That didn't change this time. He hadn't been to the Shadow Proclamation in more years than he could remember and was curious to see if it still looked the same. Also he wondered whether they would actually let him speak instead of simply telling him it was impossible to get Rose back and he should simply accept the fact right there and then. For him that was not an option.

As he stepped out of the TARDIS he saw the familiar white walls and big corridors. At first there was no one there. Then a Wokotoma, who looked like a giant rinozeros, came along and stood in front of him. He spoke in his familiar Wokotomanian language he had no problem understanding. "The Shadow Proclamation recognizes your existence. What is the purpose of your visit?"

Speaking the language fluenty, the Doctor answered: "I'm the Doctor and I have to speak to the Headmistress of the Shadow Proclamation. It's an urgent matter!"

"The Headmistress only speaks to creatures on matters of the utmost importance. Is the urgent matter a matter of life war or peace?"

"Not exactly, however …"

The Wokotomanian interrupted him immediately. "Then you have no business here. The Headmistress will not see you!"

"I have to speak to her immediately! I need … I need to find someone! It's all my fault that she is in a different world where she doesn't belong! I need so save her. I … I love her!"

The Wokotomanian stepped back a few steps. The Doctor could hear footsteps. Someone was coming down the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a woman in a white dress. She had furious looking eyes and wild hair. With slow and gracious steps she walked over. "The great Doctor, famous amongst most species in this universe, known across time and space. You have ended the time war and saved uncountable creatures, humans, aliens, robtos and animals. Yet you come all this way for one person. She must really mean a lot to you."

"She does."

Her expression softened. "This event should be documented in history. The Doctor cares more about one particular person than himself or anyone else in the universe. I can see it in your eyes, Doctor. You have changed."

"Yes, fine, alright. I have changed, but I still need to find a way to get her back. She doesn't belong in the other world! She's not happy and it's all my fault. I was the one that was supposed to save her, be there for her and my miscalculations and mistakes sent her off to another reality she didn't grow up in and neither did her mother!"

The woman raised her eyebrows. "You care about her mother?"

"No, yes … I don't know. Rose cares about her and I care about Rose, even though her mother is … excentric to say the least. But that's not the point! The point is …"

"The point is you are trying to do something that has never been done before. You cannot simply travel into another part of reality, it doesn't work like that."

The Doctor felt the anger rising inside of him. He didn't know whom he was angrier at: This woman for telling him things he already knew or fate for getting him in this situation. Still he was now standing in front of someone who could actually help him if he could find the right words.

He took a deep breath and said: "Isn't there a law that people should stay in their indestined realities and once you meddle with that, you meddle with destiny?"

"There are exceptions to that", said the woman coldly.

"But Rose Tyler was – is a vital part of this universe! Without her many things wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be here. She's the reason I am standing here. She is the reason that the Earth didn't perish under the attack of Cybermen and Dalek alike! She was the one who saved humanity! Not me! It was all her! What will happen to the Earth and oh, the entire universe if she's gone? Tell me that!"

The woman was quiet for a minute. She paced around the hall not taking his eyes off the Doctor for one second. Then she suddenly came to a halt. "There is only one who ever intentionally went over to the parallel world and came back without ripping a hole into the fabric of reality. She travelled there a long time ago to find her mother who through unfortunate circumstances ended up there. Though when they found each other, the mother was much older than she had been. Time seems to be ahead and move faster there. So if you intend to get her back the way she was, you must hurry."

The Doctor felt his hearts jump. His face felt hot and he could hardly stand still. "Yes, that is the kind of person I need! Where does she live?"

"That's the problem. She has been hiding from us and everyone else for years. The only hint I can give you is where she was last seen. It was in 2099 on Satellite III. I do not know if this is helpful to you."

"Oh yes, it is! The Satellite stations have records. I might be able to find her through them. What's her name?"

"Larah Jones. She is the the granddaughter of Martha Jones, who one day will be leading the Earth in fights against alien invasions."

The name didn't ring a bell with the Doctor at all, but it was good enough for him. He was almost ready to leave before the woman spoke again. "Doctor, listen! You should be careful. The journey you're about to embark on holds many dangers! You might go down the dark ways of your own mind. Beware! You might even lose yourself."

The Doctor considered this for a second. Then he said: "I understand, but I have to do this. Nothing and no one has ever meant more to me. I'm ready."

The woman moved closer to him in a graceful way. Her feet barely seemed to touch the ground. She slowly lifted her arm and gently put her hand on the Doctor's left cheek. She looked into his eyes for a minute without saying a word. Then she said: "The Doctor, so old, but yet so young. Still learning the ways of the world. So brave, yet so scared! Never before have you felt so alone. Never before were your hearts hurting in that way, not even when your people and your planet perished in front of your eyes. The Doctor in love – never in a million years would I have thought it to be possible."

He did not like it much when other people read his mind. This lady was doing it in a non-invasive way, but still he didn't want her to know everything that was going on inside his head. He imagined a door closing and she took a step back. "So strong in your mind, Doctor, so weak in the heart. I hope you find what you are looking for to strengthen it, to heal it. I send you the good luck and fortune of all my people."

"Thank you", the Doctor said appreciatively. He turned around on the spot making his way back to the TARDIS. He could see that the Wokotomanian was still standing on the same spot. He seemed not to have moved an inch.

"Doctor", he heard the woman say. He turned around on the threshold. "If you need to find us again, you will. We will not hide from you again." He nodded. Then he stepped into his ship. It was asleep. "Come on then", he shouted, "you can't be sleeping at a time like this! Wake up." The engines started making noises and the light went on. "That's better. We have a big mission ahead of us. We need to find someone who doesn't want to be found. But it's not like we have never done anything like that before, right? Remember the time when we set out to find that woman who knew the location of that lost planet? It took us a long time, but we managed. So this should be a piece of cake. Off to Satellite III! Allons-y!"

He moved down the handle of the control, set the time and coordinates and punched the start button. He heard the familiar noise of the TARDIS processing the data and setting off. He was now on a mission – a mission to find the one he loved and nothing could stand in his way.

BOOM! With a loud crash the TARDIS landed. The numbers on the coordinates and time jumped back and forth. "Oh no!" he shouted moving around the control panel. "What happened?" He stormed outside. Looking up blinkingly into the sun, he noticed himself standing in front of Big Ben. He was on Earth. Why did the TARDIS bring him here? He looked around. No one seemed to notice him. What had happened? Why was he here?


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

He stood at the same spot for hours trying to make sense of what had happened. This was now the second time in a row that the TARDIS hadn't brought him to where he wanted to go. He'd entered all the data correctly, but somehow still wound up in the one town on the one planet he didn't want to be on unless she was there.

"Standing there won't make it any easier."

He wound around to see who was suddely talking to him. A woman stood there. She was most probably in her fourties, had long way brown hair, black glasses and wore a long brown coat almost the same his own. She smiled at him as he looked at her and put her glasses onto her head. "I'm Annika Smith. People call me Annie." She held her hand out. The Doctor, still mesmerized, moved out his own hand to shake her's. Seeing his confused look she chuckled and said: "You probably have no idea who I am, Doctor."

He let go of her hand and raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You know who I am?"

"Yes, I do. You're the Doctor, last of the Timelords. You travel in your TARDIS, which stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. You ended the battle of canary warf."

The Doctor cleared his throat. He was – for once in his life– lost for words. "How do you know all this about me?"

"That's not important. All you need to know is that I'm here to help you."

The Doctor noticed she was speaking in a very posh accent. Every word she pronounced very clearly. It was almost amusing. But he was still unconvinced about her and her purpose. "What do you mean you are going to help me? How do you know what I'm about to do?"

She smiled. "Like I said, all you need to know is I'm here to help. You seek someone, yes? A Larah Jones I believe."

"Yes, that's true, but this is all a bit fishy to me. How do you know so much? How is it that you found me here? How did you know I was going to be here?"

"All you need to know is that I was sent here to assist you in finding the person you seek and in the long run, help you get someone back. Rose Tyler her name is."

His left heart skipped a bit and his right started pumping faster. How did she know all this? He couldn't stand still anymore. He started pacing around the lawn he'd only now noticed he was standing on. "But … but, how? Some people try to find me and it takes them decades! How do you know who I am?"

She continued to smile. "They told me you were going to put up a fight. This should convince you that I'm for real." She pulled out a little screen. "Maybe we should go inside as to not make anyone suspicious?"

"Inside? .. Oh yes!" He led the way into the TARDIS. She stood at the entrance for a second as he made his way towards the control panel. He stopped midway and said: "Yes, yes I know it's. …"

"Bigger on the inside", she added smiling. "I know."

"How? How do you know?"

"Be patient, Doctor. All in good time."

She walked over the bridge towards the control panel still carrying the screen. "Can I hook this onto something?"

"Hm? Oh yes, here." He pulled out what looked like a burnt cable and handed it to her. She took it now smiling even wider. "You should update your ship, Doctor. It looks a bit – old."

"Update? This is not a computer! It's a living thing! Think of it as a tree. It was grown, not built." He stopped himself from talking. "I'm not saying a word more until you show me proof that you're not here to get some information for people who will misuse it or you're not a Slythene, not a shapeshifter of any kind!"

She laughed. "I'm not. I'm human. Check me out with your sonic screwdriver."

"You know about that, too?" But he took her advice. He grabbed his sonic screwdriver and scanned her. Looking at the display he saw that she was almost completely human. One thing about her caught his eye. "Wait a minute! It says that you're almost human. There's something odd about it, though. You have time travelling specs!"

She looked over to him. "Yes. I'm a time traveller. Just like you."

He shook his head. "Hold on. I don't just cross paths with time travellers. In fact, I've never met one that didn't become one through me! It's actually quite impossible."

"Is it?" she said with a smirk. "Maybe this will help." She pressed a button on the top of the screen and an image of man appeared. He had a big smile on his face. "Doctor! Good to see you." The Doctor rubbed his eyes. "But … Jack! What are you doing? What's happening?" He heard the familiar laugh of Captain Jack Harkness. "Yes it's me!" he shouted gleefully. "I'm glad Annie found you. We were worried that she wasn't going to. She could have been much too early or much too late. We had to rely on records."

"Records?" The Doctor became furious now. "Would someone please tell me what's going on here? I'm simply not used to not understanding word of what is happening around me. You!" He pointed at Jack. "You explain to me how you're talking to me right now, where you are and why this is happening. And you!" He now pointed at Annie. "You're going to tell me exactly who you are. Where you came from, what your purpose is, why you are helping me. Everything! And right now."

A small pause followed. Then Jack spoke. "Fine, old friend. I'm in the year 2062, about 55 years in your future."

"Hold on a second", the Doctor said. "It's 2007 now? How is that possible? Why did I land here and now?"

"I'm trying to explain, Doctor. We were trying to find you. It's very hard to do that when you travel across time and space, so we had to find someone who saw you at some point. The last time anyone on Earth saw you was this moment right there. We had to calculate when you would land and where, because the person could only remember that it was somewhere around Big Ben. Then we went back in time to meet you. Annie is by far our best agent. She was the first pick for this mission."

This didn't help the Doctor at all. There were still too many questions unanswered. "Now hold on. First of all, who exactly is 'we'?

Jack's smile faded and he paused for a second. Then he said with a lowered voice: "Torchwood."

"Torchwood!? You work for Torchwood? After everything they did at canary warf, after they let the cybermen cross over to our world, after they nearly destroyed the Earth and … and after Rose …" He stopped. The painful memories came back yet again. He had tried hard to supress them, because they weren't helping. But his anger towards everything that had happened, towards Torchwood, the Earth and fate, only grew.

"I know what Torchwood did", Jack said. "I redid it. I created a new and better Torchwood. The only thing we do is make sure that aliens do not interfere with the ways of the Earth. We inspect mysterious creatures and deaths. That is all. We do not start wars and we do not experiment. Well, at least not on things that can go wrong."

The Doctor shook his head. "I don't believe that. Torchwood caused so much evil. It can't be good."

"Am I evil?" Jack asked in earnest. "Am I the cause of all problems? Think about that, Doctor."

No one spoke for a minute or two. Then the Doctor stepped forward and looked onto the screen. "No, you're not evil. You may be a scoundrel, but you're not evil."

Jack laughed. He looked over to Annie and said: "Well, Annie, I suppose this concludes things. Oh, Doctor" he turned his head to him, "before you keep harrassing her with questions, she is an excellent Torchwood agent from planet Earth travelling through time and space on secret and emergency missions like the one you're about to embark on. Her name is Annika Smith, she likes to be called Annie. She can speak up to 18 languages, she's a fantastic cook and she's a wonderful companion. Give her a chance."

The Doctor sighed. He looked over at Annie who was smiling in a sweet yet suspicious way. Something about her reminded him of himself. He looked at Jack's picture and said: "Fine, I will give her a chance. But if anything goes wrong, if she keeps talking too much, I'll send her back!"

"No offence, Doctor", Jack answered, "but I don't know if anyone can talk more than you. You'll be alright."

Now even the Doctor had to smile. "Alright, hurray then. We'll be on our way."

"Always a pleasure, Doctor" Jack said while giving a salute. The Doctor simply nodded. A second later his picture was gone.

"Right then", Annie said tucking away the screen. "Best be off." She walked a couple of steps to the control panel. "Oh I've been dreaming to be inside this thing for a long time." She gigled.

The Doctor took a few steps forward to get a better look at her. "Let's get one thing straight."

"Hm?"

"Last time I traveled with someone, I lost her to a different version of reality. I'm not exactly fond of the idea of a new companion just now."

"Fine then", Annie responded. "I'm not your companion. I'm your – …caseworker. How's that?"

"Better", the Doctor answered. "So, off to Satellite III. I hope I'll reach it this time."

"You will. We interfered with your transmat. You should have free reign now over all your control panels."

The Doctor stopped in mid-action. "You … you interfered with my transmat? How on Earth did you do that?"

"We went to Satellite V first and acquired some technology. They have a way of sucking people into games there. At least they did for a while until you saved the day again, Doctor."

He looked down. "That was very long ago. In fact, I even looked very different back then. I was a different man. Even my accent was different. I sounded like I was from the North. At least that's what Rose said." The silence that followed was uncomfortable. Annie shifted around nervously.

"Why don't we get a move-on, Doctor."

He nodded. He turned the wheel, set the data and punched the start button. Making its usual noise, the TARDIS left the ground and started the journey. From the corner of his eye the Doctor saw Annie fiddling with something that looked like a small trinket. She put it back into her pocket before he could see what it was.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3 **

He still felt the tiredness that had befallen him ever since she was gone. Normally he would have set the TARDIS to top speed immediately and run off to do whatever it is that he needed to with little or no sleep. But now even setting out on this journey, which would help getting closer to saving Rose, seemed too much to handle. Annie had set up shop in one of the bedrooms in the upstairs part of the TARDIS. She had gone to sleep hours ago and even though he still didn't trust her the thought of her peacefully sleeping and dreaming gave him a sense of serenity. Of course he would never ever admit to that! Shaking his head in wonderment he went up the stairs to the room he hadn't used in a long time: his bedroom. The TARDIS would keep flying even if he were to enter the world of dreams. The planets would still rotate around themselves and others. Others would save creatures and worlds. Time would not stand still. That was probably his biggest fear and he rarely admitted to it. He was afraid that when he wasn't around, bad things would happen. But even when he was there bad things happened. It was thoughts like these that kept him from resting. Reaching his bedroom he stepped up towards his bed. He lay down on the cushions and tried to relax his mind. He could hear the TARDIS's noise pump away in perfect rhythm. It was relaxing to him and he found himself falling asleep. Everything was peaceful for once.

He was wondering down what seemed to be a corridor or a bridge with a roof. Either way he was glad not to be alone. Rose was holding his hand tightly and stepping over big pipes only a second after him. She wasn't smiling but her expression was soft. It took him a while to understand where they were. It was the impossible planet that was in orbit around a black hole. His heart filled up with warmth. That had been the first time he noticed he was in love with her. And now, naturally, they were together. She loved him, too. It was meant to be and it would be. He stopped as they were standing in front of a door. It had a wheel for a handle. He turned towards her and took both of her hands into his. They just stood there for a while looking at each other. Then she said: "Doctor, whatever happens, I want you to know that I'm alright. I'm healthy and alive." He nodded. Moving in slowly to kiss her he closed his eyes and waited for the touch of her lips on his.

"Doctor. Doctor. DOCTOR!"

He spun out of the dream and back into the present sitting up straight.

"What?" he yelled. It had come out more forceful and loudly than he wanted to, but he seemed to have no control over it. He cleared his throat. "I'm sorry. What … what's wrong?" He looked straight into Annie's face, who was leaning down towards him. He shuffled away from her feeling rather uncomfortable. She took a step back and straightened up. "Nothing's wrong, Doctor. I just wanted to tell you that the TARDIS has landed. Operation Larah Jones has commenced." She smiled and put the glasses she was wearing up on her head. The Doctor didn't even had a minute to think about the dream he could hardly remember when Annie took his hand and pulled him off the bed and all the way into the control room of the TARDIS. "Now", she said pulling out the screen and something that looked like a pen. "I suggest we proceed as follows: Go outside, mingle to a certain extent and try to find out how to access the records by either posing as new employees of surveillance or data records and then we go about out business and see how far it gets us." Bewildered the Doctor walked past Annie and looked at his own control screen. It showed that they had landed on Satellite III in the year 2099. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and turned towards the door. He turned to Annie, smiled and said: "Well, allons-y." Halfway towards the door he heard a "u-hum-hum" and stopped. Turning around he saw Annie still standing where she had stood with her pen and screen. She looked directly at him and said: "We can't just go out there without a plan. I'm under strict orders and I would like to see them through!" "Have you always been this bossy or do I bring it out in you?" She put her pen away and said: "I think I got it from my father. He always had to have things his way and he told me that's the way to go. So we're doing this MY way. Understand?"

"I don't take orders from anyone but me. Did YOU understand that?"

Annie shook her head. "I didn't think you were going to be this stubborn. Fine, look at this plan here and tell me what you think." She held up the small screen for him to see. The Doctor took a few hurried steps towards her and took the screen. He then threw it to the left where it landed on a sofa. "That's what I think of any plan. I hope you're not too offended. Let's go!"

"Fine then." Annie was walking fast and reached the door before him. For the first time he started noticing what she was wearing. It was a purple-white jogging suit with running shoes. He suppressed a giggle and walked out behind her as she opened the door. The sight that presented itself to the both of them was one that neither of them had expected or ever wanted to see.


End file.
